On April 8, a judge in the St. Petersburg City Court sentenced six former members of the democratic youth movement Vesna to prison terms ranging from six to 12 years, according to reports by the independent Russian outlet Mediazona and human rights group Pervy Otdel (lit. “Department One”).
The six defendants are:
- former coordinator of Vesna’s St. Petersburg branch Yevgeny Zateyev, who received 6 years and 2 months;
- Anna Arkhipova, a former employee of the movement’s media department, who received 12 years;
- Yabloko activist Vasily Neustroyev, who received 10 years;
- Pavel Sinelnikov, the former “executive secretary” of the movement, who received 7.5 years;
- Yan Ksenzhepolsky, a former member of the movement’s Federal Coordinating Council, who received 11 years;
- And activist Valentin Khoroshenin, who received 6 years and 2 months.
The youth movement Vesna was founded in St. Petersburg in 2013. After Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022, its members called on Russians to take part in nonviolent anti-war protests. Later that year, the movement was designated “extremist” by the Russian authorities, allowing the state to accuse the defendants in the Vesna case of taking part in an “extremist” community, along with several other charges ranging from the alleged spread of “fake” information about the Russian army to public calls for activity endangering national security.
As noted by the human rights project OVD-Info, the most serious charges were brought against activist Anna Arkhipova. State investigators accused her under seven criminal charges at once, including spreading false information about the Russian army, organizing the work of an extremist community, and incitement to mass unrest.
The first investigative actions in the Vesna case began in May 2022. The six former Vesna activists sentenced earlier today were placed in custody in 2023 due to anti-war posts published on the movement’s social media accounts. One of the defendants, Valentin Khoroshenin, admitted guilt and gave testimony against the others, according to media reports. In total, about 20 people are involved in the case, including some who managed to leave Russia before being arrested.
